Not so unlike Thaddeus.
She closed her eyes, reminiscing about his kisses. From fierce and possessive to sweet and tender. Thaddeus’s mouth was a heaven she eagerly wished to get lost in.
“I’m not through with you,” Cassy murmured, her thickvoice cutting through Rori’s memories. She didn’t have a chance to look up before Cael lowered to sit beside her, watching Cassy slip into the kitchen.
“A gunshot wound seems a little too simple for my brother, especially under the circumstances. If I were to guess, Rich suffered before a bullet struck its mark.”
“Why do you think it was a bullet?”
Cael chuckled, facing her. “I heard the news before Cassy and checked it out myself.” Cael touched a single finger to his temple. “Pretty clean shot, and he was still holding his gun. Knowing my brother, and how protective he’s become of you, Rich endured a bit of Thaddeus pizzazz before leaving this world.” He dropped his hand to hers. The stained hand he had magically cleaned. “And you gained a blood promise.”
Rori scoffed, but Cael’s words resonated with that swimming gold cord inside her that somehow recognized Thaddeus and constricted whenever he was close. It pulsed, its brilliant glow muted, sad, a reflection of her current emotions since waking to find him gone. No note. Nothing. Last night could have been a dream had her bed not smelled of Thaddeus and her body not ached from everything he’d done to make her shatter.
“Blood promises. What’re the significance of those?”
Cael grew serious. The air around him shifted, pressing down on her shoulders as he leaned close. “Blood, my sweet, is the essence of everything. Blood is life. The Fae do not offer blood promises, or blood bonds, lightly. They are irreversible. Once a promise is made or a bond created through blood, it is for eternity. Or death. Soul mates, in our culture, do not have weddings. We bond through blood, an intimate ceremony that seals our fates to our mate through the Goddess. Blood promises can be one-sided. Fae have been known to make promises to others through blood. Though wecan’t lie, sealing our promise with blood solidifies our sincerity.”
Rori drew her lower lip between her teeth as she considered her hand. Cael’s explanation sang to something indescribable, a hum of confirmation for an unknown promise.
“I’m unaware of any promises. I fell asleep and when I woke up, he was gone.” A bitter laugh left her lips and she looked up at Cael. “To be expected, I suppose. I was coming off an adrenaline rush. I suspect he was, too.” She shrugged. “Things happened and that’s that. I knew what I was doing, and knew the potential outcome.”
“I may not know all of Thad’s more intimate routines, but he’s never been one to lay with a woman because he lost control or simply had an itch that needed to be scratched. He’s always been particular. If anything, it probably got worse over the last century. Whatever happened last night is between you both, but rest assured, it wasn’t meaningless.”
Her heart soared at Cael’s assurance, but her mind fought to keep her grounded. Her relationship with Thaddeus was anything but normal, and definitely wasn’t what anyone would consider healthy. Then again, whatwashealthy when dealing with the Fae? She held no expertise in the fantasy department outside of books Cassy would shove in her hands and demand she read.
At last, Rori sighed, patted the back of his hand before slipping hers out from beneath his palm, and stood. “I’m going to change into something a little more appropriate. I’ll be back.”
Once she was in her room, she gingerly traced the area along the back of her hand where the smatter of crimson had been, a giddy smile teased her mouth. Did Thaddeus really make a blood promise? To her? What did he feel so stronglyabout that he’d swear it in blood? If she asked him, would he tell her?
Another thought infiltrated her momentary joy.
Soul mates bonded by blood as well. Would Thaddeus ever bond with her in such a way? Or would he always find her lowly and unworthy, despite his whispered words and endearments during the night?
“Don’t get your hopes up.”
Rori pulled out a new outfit, took a quick shower, and changed. She tied her damp hair on top of her head, adjusted her T-shirt and rolled the waistband of her jogging pants down a bit before heading back to the living room.
She’d made it a step out of her bathroom when her skin prickled and the air turned heavy and thick. Every alarm in her mind screamed. Intuition blared with warning. She took a few seconds to scan her bedroom, then the bathroom.
A shadow caught at the corner of her eye. She spun back to her bedroom.
Empty.
The scent of musty dirt and wet rocks teased her nostrils, tendrils of essence that cut through Thaddeus’s lingering spice. Her stomach cinched. Her fingers grew cold with impending panic. Energy rippled through the air, bringing the hairs on her arms upright and making her muscles grow cold and stiff.
The air moved at her back. She spun around, shuffled closer to the bedroom door as she observed an empty room.
A hollow chuckle taunted her from every direction. She swore she heard the sizzle of electricity. The room rippled, like heat off pavement, followed by the walls beginning to warp.
She dove for her door, but it disappeared into another smooth surface that stretched and curved. Her entire roomgrew and twisted, reshaping into a dome with no doors, no windows. The furniture melted into the distorted illusion, feeding them as they stretched.
She pounded on the wall, fear welling.
“Cael!”
“He won’t make it here to save you.”
Rori twisted back to her room, or what had been her room. Nothing was left but a carpet that coiled and swayed like eerie snakes around her feet.
